One of my closest friends has recently found out his 6 year old nephew has been diagnosed with Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This is a difficult thing for any adult to go through not to mention a child. Since there is only so much one family can do they have decided to have a fundraiser to help! Any little bit goes a long way. Please click here to read more about Doug and his family as well as see what you can do! There will be a fundraiser on June 22nd with food, drinks, fun, games, raffles and many other things! Once I have more details I will of course, keep you posted. Please help me help my friend and his family as this cause is very important to me and I don’t reach out like this often and let’s be honest can you resist that little face?!?!?!?! I don’t think so!
Please also share this link or post anywhere and everywhere you can! If you would like to donate a product or service for the raffle or even a gift to Doug or his family feel free to e-mail me accounts@thegreenbeagle.com. I appreciate any help for my friend and this super little boy!
Being that I have no idea what exactly Lymphoblastic Leukemia is as I am sure many of you don’t either here is what Wikipedia says: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a form of leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells characterized by excess lymphoblasts.
Malignant, immature white blood cells continuously multiply and are overproduced in the bone marrow. ALL causes damage and death by crowding out normal cells in the bone marrow, and by spreading (infiltrating) to other organs. ALL is most common in childhood with a peak incidence at 2–5 years of age, and another peak in old age.
Cure is a realistic goal. ≥94% of children have continuous disease-free survival for 5 years and appear cured. 30-40% of adults have continuous disease-free survival for 5 years. [1][2][3]
Acute refers to the relatively short time course of the disease (being fatal in as little as a few weeks if left untreated) to differentiate it from the very different disease of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which has a potential time course of many years. It is interchangeably referred to as Lymphocytic or Lymphoblastic. This refers to the cells that are involved, which if they were normal would be referred to as lymphocytes but are seen in this disease in a relatively immature (also termed ‘blast’) state.

The holidays are coming up once again and gift buying is clearly in full swing. If you have to make purchases you know I always say to make them ethical. I have found quite a few really cute gift ideas that won’t hurt your wallet or our environment. Gift giving shouldn’t just be about having stuff, they should be meaningful. Make your presents have a statement. You could help recruit a new greenie or even just open someones eyes. Being ethical says you care for not only for our environment but the person you are giving the gift to.

How cute is this bib seriously!!! I want one for myself. I am not at all afraid to admit I too can sometimes get messy when I eat. Autonomie Project’s made with 100% organic, Fair Trade certified cotton. The bib was stitched in a fair trade facility with high ethical standards.

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Did you say edible face paint? Yes please! Wee Can Too’s edible art supplies are seriously some of the funnest ideas ever for art supplies. I am not sure why this company isn’t taking over the world but that is another article. What kids don’t like getting their faces painted. The paints are made using plant dyes and can be used on the face, body and even as regular paint on paper or projects. This is a great gift for even adults.

I think the KidKraft Fire Hydrant Night Stand is just a super cool night stand. It ships for free which is amazing and is only $60! The night stand is made from rubberwood which is ecologically sustainable timber making it an eco friendly choice! The bright colors and design of the hydrant are super fun. The stand has plenty of storage space.

Less assembly than model cars but way more fun!! A child can learn how to create, build and have fun. The Made By Me Box Set allows children the chance to make relatively simple vehicles and then decorate them anyway they like. Better than a preassembled toy in my book. The Made By Me Boxed Set is also one parents don’t really need to help with. I like toys that show children how learning and creating is fun and exciting. Who know’s this might be the spark your child needs to figure out what he or she will want to be when they grow up.

Product Description:The Made By Me Set Details:
Get 4 original vehicle kits in one box. Includes the blank bodies for a train, tugboat, tractor, and truck plus wheels and axles for each. The Made By Me series allows children 3 and up to have a good creative and constructive time! The assembly instructions are enclosed. All you need is some glue, a hammer, and paints, crayons, stickers or anything you want use for designing your vehicles.

Wild Dill is one of my fave green shops for kids! You can get clothes, toys and gifts all in one spot. I appreciate a store that is really dedicated to the green cause instead of just claiming to be. I would also like to add that this is another company with awesome customer service. That is one of the most important things to me when shopping anywhere. Now on to the fun stuff!

These Valentine’s Day Pencil Toppers are a quick and cute way to show someone you care about them! The pencil toppers go great with a cute card or little sweet treat. This craft is great for kids you have large classes or Valentine’s parties to go to! This way no one is left out and everyone gets to feel a little special.

Materials:
Scissors
Craft foam
Permanent markers
Pipe cleaner
Pencils

Instructions:

1.Cut a 1- to 2-inch heart from craft foam. With a permanent marker, print a short message on the front and the name of the giver on back.

2.Poke an inch of the pipe cleaner through the bottom of the heart, bend it down, and twist it back around the remaining length of pipe cleaner.

3.Coil the pipe cleaner tightly around the pencil. Then gently pull up on the heart so that part of the coil bobs freely above the pencil, with several loops anchored around the eraser end.

4. Add any of your own decorations you want. If you have glitter, stickers, buttons, left over material use it! Go crazy and make these pencil toppers original! You can do whatever you want to them!

How fun ist this? You can teach your children or class about recycling paper and actually show them! This is great for a science project or for something to do around the house! Once your kids learn how to do this it can be a practice carried on through their lives to remember the importance of recycling! Green Creativity has amazing products for learning and fun! Learning to be green is great to start when you are young! You can get your Paper Recycling Kit here.

About:

Repurpose old paper into new paper with Green Creativity’s Paper Recycling Kit! This kit is designed to help your child understand how paper can be recycled.Learn how paper is made and recycled. Create lots of different textures and patterns and make them into unique bookmarks, notepads, greetings cards and more!Another great educational children’s toy that will help your child learn and care for our environment.Kit Includes: 50g of paper, paper making tray, net, 3 tubs of paint, 1 paint brush, colored yarns, silk flowers, ribbon and detailed instructions.

Connected Wisdom Illustrates the inter-connectedness we as a world share. Every action effects your surrounding environment accordingly. This concept may be difficult for children to grasp but Connect Wisdom defines the meaning of a Living System perfectly for everyone in terms that can be come a “fairytale” of positive sorts for generations to come.
Everyone agrees that to create responsible and aware adults the lessons must come from childhood where these ideas can be cemented in to a child’s impressionability before they have time to be negatively influenced by outside efforts. This may sound almost like brain washing but if you think about the fairy tales that you remember as a child most of them had little to no relevance to real life other than wait patiently for prince charming to come save you. You grow up being delusional even if you know better somewhere deep down you wish for Prince Charming right? In the case of Connected Wisdom a child can know deep down what is right so as children and then adults they can make good decisions regarding their environments for current and future generations.

About Connected Wisdom:
Living Stories About Living Systems gathers twelve stories from different cultures that each reveal a unique example of a “living system.” Through them, Linda Booth Sweeney shows that what we now call systems thinking has been around for a very long time.

A Balinese folktale tells the story of a gecko who cannot sleep because of the sparks from a firefly. He traces the cause of his complaint from one animal to another to the mosquitoes he depends on for his survival. Like this gecko, young readers will understand that all life is inter-related, and will be able to grasp the concept of the living system of “interdependence.” In a Burmese folktale, a king spills a drop of honey on his windowsill, too little to bother cleaning up. Yet the drop draws a fly, which attracts a lizard, which is followed by a cat, then a dog, and the owners of the cat and the dog, each armed with a stick. When civil war erupts, the king and readers understand the living system of “linearity,” in which an effect is disproportionate to its cause.
Says Sweeney, “If kids understand living systems, they’re more likely to think and act in informed ways and less likely to jump to blame a single cause for the challenges they encounter. As kids appreciate and learn about living systems, they see that connections in nature, people, problems and events bind us all.”

I have written a few posts about Green Toys Inc. products like Green Toys Recycling Truck, Green Toys Tool Set, Green Toys Indoor Gardening Kit, Green Toys BPA-Free Feeding Spoon, & Green Toys Cookware and Dining Setto list a few. I love the packaging and design of these products. They are fun and colorful but more importantly environmentally conscious and made here in the USA! Green Toys Inc. makes sure to minimize packaging where ever they can. As per their site “All Green Toys products are packaged in recycled corrugated boxes with no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties, and are 100% recyclable.” As a consumer this is so important to me. I can’t tell you how many times I buy something and when I open it there is more trash than product. That is just wasteful and makes me rethink purchasing from there again. Green Toys Inc. has their products tested by nationally recognized third-party labs here in the USA to make sure they are fit and up to par with regulations and container no external coatings so lead poisoning is a non-issue.

Toys may always be necessary but they don’t have to be harmful. Children are a precious resource and it is our responsibility as adults to teach them at a young age how important it is to be responsible to our environment. We can do this by making conscious purchases. Companies like Green Toys Inc. takes their responsibilities seriously and so should we.

About Green Toys Inc:
Made in California, USA Less Transportation, Less Energy
All Green Toys products are 100% made in the USA. To be more specific, they are produced in California, a state known for strict toy safety and environmental laws. It’s cool to buy USA, but also think about this: transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses. We all know driving less is good for mother nature, but did you ever think about how many miles a toy logs before it ends up in your local store?
Our toys are truly local creations. Every step in the process, from milk container recycling to toy production to final assembly, occurs in California. Our raw materials and toys aren’t shipped from overseas, which saves a lot of energy and reduces greenhouse gasses. It also guarantees your toys won’t get seasick before they get to your home!

I loved Easter as a child less for the candy and more for the money wrapped eggs my parents would hide around the house for me. I milked that until I was probably 20, and I am clearly not ashamed to admit it. Easter tends to be full of bad habits most of which are purchasing wasteful items, over indulging and teaching kids rabbits will leave you ginormous baskets full of a billion calories while hiding colored eggs that most people wind up throwing out or forgetting where they hid them in the first place. I am still confused as to where the Easter Bunny and Jesus met and decided this was how to handle the holiday but neither are around to ask so I guess we just have to deal with it. Being the responsible greenie I am and knowing you are as well here are some obvious ways to make your Easter go Eco!

1. Make your own baskets out of newspaper ,magazines or old fabric you have laying around. Make your children work for that candy! You can decorate them and use them for multiple years or donate them when you are finished. Best case if your basket is made out of newspaper or magazines recycle it!

2. You can also make your own eggs. Paper mache is always fun or I see alot of people purchasing wooden eggs
to color as well. I am a fan of the do-it-yourself options so find materials around the house that will be able to be recycled when you are finished. The best part is if all of the eggs don’t get found you won’t have a stinky mess on your hands. I have read you can knit your own eggs from bits of random yarn and wool you have lying around the house which I really think is a great idea and a skill everyone should possess.

3. Don’t purchase your children candy make it! If you make your own Easter treats you have a say to what and how much goes into the treats. Most of the Easter candy you see is gross and normally you wouldn’t let your children eat it so why let them on Easter. It can be sending a confusing message. My parents (probably because I was a chubby kid) would fill my basket with other things besides food that would last longer and I would appreciate more like outside games or Bath and Beauty stuff. Petit Appetit: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: Easy, Organic Snacks, Beverages, and Party Foods for Kids of All Ages

4. Have a family or friend get together full of activities and good food. I have a huge family and although they still purchase tons of eggs they make a family event out Easter. We hide plastic eggs (that can be recycled or if you have made your own) filled with small amounts of chocolate around for the children to find. We have the children decorate things like cookies (which you can make organic and healthy and use things like fruits and veggies to decorate with) to keep everyone occupied. You leave only with that you make and left overs from the afternoons feast. This way there are no messy baskets full of plastic grass, no overdose on sweets and everyone gets their exercise and creativity flowing instead of sitting around pigging out. My family event could definitely be greened up but it is a little better.
5. If you must have real eggs use fruit, veggie and flower dyes to dye your eggs. You can learn alot and save money because the items you don’t use you can eat. Also plan the meals you will make with the eggs afterwards and only purchase enough eggs to fulfill those needs. You can make tie-died deviled eggs, egg salad, rainbow cobb salad or just eat the hard boiled eggs whole. If you poke a pin hole in the bottom of the eggs the dye can get in and color the actual egg. If you use the store bought kind you might not want to do this but since these eggs should be green the fruit, flower and veggie dyes are ok to eat. Eco-Eggs Easter Egg Coloring Kit

6. If you have old baskets you are determined to use baskets be conscious of what you put in them. Don’t buy plastic grass they make paper grass or if you have fun shaped hole punches and a paper shredder make your own grass which is way more fun. You can even decorate the grass anyway you want. Color it or put nail polish on it and make it your own. Why waste money when you have everything you need at home. Easter Grass Kit is super fun and a great new way to get easter grass.

I found a bunch of these different kits from Toy Smith and I have to say I love them! This one in particular is Toysmith 4 M Clean Water Science #4572. Clean water is something much buzzed about due to recent natural disasters and over use. The Clean Water Kitis great for in class experiments or even at home to teach your children about the importance of clean water. This kit is also good for traveling so you can learn incase of emergency how to make clean safe drinking water.

Product Description:

Help to save the enviroment. Learn the science of cleaning and reusing dirty water by conducting interesting water purification experiements. Build your own water filteration and desalination plant at your table top; disinfect water with solar power and more. It’s a cool water science experimental kit. This personal desalination kit demonstrates the scientific way to extract salt from sea water. Contains a plastic filter system, active carbon, sand, rock, filter paper and instructions. Just add a water glass! For ages 8+.